"alan kearn" wrote in message
om...
I have (had) a nice beech tree hedge 10 feet high and about 50 feet in
length. Half of this hedge has been obliterated by a stolen car. The
last tree (about 4 inches in diameter) the car hit has been slightly
uprooted breaking some of the roots and leaving it leaning a little to
one side it is still solid in the ground and unmoveable.It has also
had a area of 4x2 inches of bark ripped of the bottom of the trunk,
this is up the trunk not across. Now before i put a fence up to fill
in the horrible gap that is left, is this tree likely to survive or is
there a chance it will die off. Any advice on how to save it would be
appreciated.

Thanks
Alan Kearn

I'd expect it to be fine, especially at this time of year when it's not
growing strongly. Just straighten it up if you can and firm down the soil.
The loss of bark shouldn't be a problem as long as it doesn't go all the way
around the trunk and the sap will still find it's way up to the rest of the
tree. If there's a branch just above the removed bark then it may die off
but the rest of the tree should be OK. You might want to paint the wound
with something like Arbrex to seal it against infection while the weather is
damp.

Martin.